Kicking and Screaming (2005)

Soccer Bomb

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Will Ferrell needs a particular kind of childish, carefree character toplay for his brand of humor to work, and he is dreadfully miscast inthis wretched family-friendly soccer comedy. Kicking and Screaming feels as if itwere callously vomited out by a machine, along with a couple of spareparts and some putrid grease. Ferrell stars as Phil Weston, a passiveschmuck who agrees to coach his son's losing team to compete with hisdad (Robert Duvall), who coaches the front-runners. With former ChicagoBears coach Mike Ditka (as himself) lending a hand, it all comes down tothe predictable Big Game. Duvall has the only funny line, and so that noone has to sit through this turkey, here it is: "I take a vitamin everyday. It's called a steak." Jesse Dylan (American Wedding) directs, ifyou can call it that, and Alex Borstein appears unbilled as an obnoxious hummer driver.